Yeah, I mean, I ride in a super, steady, consistent wind in Charleston, and I'm in agreement, when I was there, it was definitely controllable. It was more in zones. Of course, this was 2 years ago, and the Ritz is probably more built up by now. It was nice to ride out front of the hotel in waist deep, flat water, so go have fun and let us know how it is.

I loved kiting in Aruba. Yes, the wind is gusty, just use the gusts for boosting. The water is warm, turquoise blue, and flat at the huts. I am used to inland kiting and I have kited in far worse conditions than the huts. I would not recommend it to a beginner as you cannot safely walk around with a kite in the air like most steady ocean locations. I was there for 10 days and the wind blew 24/7 twhat tire trip. The air temp was around 85 to 90. I would go back, but my wife doesn't like the coarse texture of the sand. Fortunately, she likes Cabarete and St. Martin.

Yes, leave your 17 at home. It is a place for a kite with plenty of range and stability.

I'm going back to Aruba last week of December for the third time in 12 months. I love it there because when I'm off for a week, I want to fly a small kite as much as I can everyday to work on my thing, and the chances of doing that are good in Aruba. If I had a month, or even two weeks, I could stand to ride less, but when I go for a week I want to ride everyday. I know you can get skunked there too, so I hope I'm not jixing... You can rig in Boca or the Huts within 30 minutes of arrival. I prefer Boca because I kite waves strapless 95% of the time, there are super clean winds there (onshore, no hotels). The prison is downwind. Hahaha...

The Huts are gusty and are more so now with the Ritz. But you can kite shallow, butter flat water right in front of your hotel. Buy the peeps at the kite huts some beers and ask them to watch for your kite. Introduce yourself and tell them exactly where you're at. I'm a Great Lakes guy too and ride in fairly gusty conditions, like last Friday on Lake Erie. So it's not unbearable, but they say some days are worse than others, don't recall why. I'm always more interested in hanging out at Boca anyway. If you want to hang there, rent a cheap car and enjoy the ride. As far as crowds go, it's not that bad. It gets busier after 3pm and on weekends. Good practice to ride in crowds anyway. Smile!

You can book a guided downwinder with Fernando from Extreme Winds that's pretty cool, you can find him on Facebook or through his site. I've done two with him, one from Barcadera to the Huts, and one from Barcadera to Arashi. Good times.

Is Aruba a perfect kite destination? Maybe not for everyone. But it has some of the most consistently strong wind in the Caribbean, the island is beautiful and so are the people. It's also really safe, but bad things can happen to good people everywhere.

The winds at the huts tend to be gusty as are most offshore winds worldwide. We all have kited in gusty winds somewhere. Get over it! The water at the huts is shallow for about 100 meters out. After that........Panama.
If you can't stay up wind, it's best you pay one of the schools to watch you (pay)for a rescue if necessary. Better yet, take a lessons! Armando's kite shack and Aruba Active vacations have spots at the huts and give a huge amount of lessons. Fernando and Helena, at Xtremewinds kiteboarding tends to travel at different spots around the island. All the schools have aboard for rescues. Definitely go meet everybody.
Boca Grande, is 40 minutes away on the other side of the island. Nice side on with small waves.
There are NO facilities at BG. Bring three times the water and sunblock you think you will need.
BG tends to get busier after 3each day.
Aruba is safe.. You're not risking your life out at night. No one walking around with rifles.
The restaurants are excellent as are the people who live there. They are just happy to have you visit their happy island. You'll love it!
Phil

Yeah, I just introduced myself to the guys and said basically that I shouldn't have a problem staying upwind, but if something breaks, I owe you beers. They were cool about it, and I had no issue staying upwind, which is pretty fun as there's little boats anchored in close that you can air over. All in all, I felt pretty confident there, and at least there are other riders around.

Thanks for all the advice and reports on Aruba fellow forum members. I am very encouraged after getting your field reports and it sounds like I am destined to have a great time. For sure I must try and arrange a downwinder. Its good to hear many have had good experience on the island. For a while worried I had made a mistake in choosing Aruba. The great winds( ok there may be gusts) and ability to kite right off my hotel beach sound so good. And car rental to BG. Can't wait!!!!
pec

In the future, I suggest Cabarete in the DR. You can kite right from your hotel and it is a lovely place. My wife likes it a whole lot better than Aruba and it is also less expensive and less developed. In the meantime, have fun in Aruba!

Hello, Fisherman Huts still a place for kiting after the Ritz Carton,but due to this, the area where you can walk is reduced and used for some schools, so if you are a begginer this is not a suitable place for you to ride alone, take a lesson or ask for supervisation from a school. I dont agree with this guys what tell you buy a coup of beer for the crew, because this guys are experienced riders what they didnt have a problem,but in case something go wrong you are going to drifting off-shore and in several oportunities,we found people far away of the shore unantended, so dont be cheap and risk your live. Other thing about this when in the huts some school tell you if you need a rescue they charge you 20 U$S per rescue, this is not a supervisation service(they are not looking at you all the time) so untill they rescue you can be a wile where you are drifting out, DONT FREAK OUT at some point you are going to be rescued. If you want a real supervisation you can contact us at Xtremewinds we charge 50U$S per half day supervisation and 100 U$S for a full day of supervisation per person with unlimited rescues.
Boca Grandi is another spot for intermediate to advance riders, here the wind is constant and on-shore,so if you are a begginer who dont know how to ride upwind and is crowd you are going to put in danger you and the other people, normally during the day is not too crowded after 16:00 start to be more crowded.
Aruba is a perfect place to learn how to kite properly with a school, normally the people who want to learn by they own they dont like it or they have problems, if you are a experienced rider you can kite everywhere here in Aruba.
Windy regards.

Thanks for the advice extremewinds. I am able to go up wind well so I think I will be ok at the Huts. I am looking forward to the trip but will make sure I tell my non kiting travelling partner to keep an eye on me at the Huts and ask the guys at the schools to rescue me for a fee if something goes wrong. I think I will speak to them first. I also plan to wear my life jacket (at least until I gain confidence) and buy a personal strobe light so they can find me if I go drifting off in the dark night. If the Huts are too freaky for me I will just have to drive to Boca Grandi each day. It sounds like a much safer spot. Too bad there are no hotels there. But I plan to keep an open mind and I plan to have lots of fun and see what its like when I get there.

I could have been bit clearer in my post. I didn't mean that I bought cold drinks expecting that if I needed a rescue I'd get it for free, I read up before I went to Aruba and understood that if you have to get rescued, there is a $20 fee. I brought some beers with me to introduce myself and ask them to keep an eye on me. Good manners never hurt.